9-year-old boy shot in head while playing with cousin, 11

BENEDICT, N.D. – Law enforcement officials say a 9-year-old boy was accidentally shot in the head while playing with his 11-year-old cousin in central North Dakota.

The Ward County Sheriff’s Department says the two were playing with a .22-calibre pistol at a home in Benedict on Wednesday evening when the gun fired and struck the 9-year-old in the head. The department says they didn’t know the weapon was loaded.

The boy was taken to a hospital in nearby Garrison, about 75 miles north of Bismarck. His condition hasn’t been released.